SSP rebate scheme

On 19 January 2022 the government reintroduced the SSP rebate scheme.

Employers with 250 employees and less can reclaim up to 2 weeks’ SSP paid to an employee from 21 December 2021 onwards. If a period of sickness started pre 21 December, the employer will have to use 21 December as the start date.

The maximum number of employees an employer can claim for is the number that were on the company’s PAYE schemes on 30 November 2021.

Employers are required to:

• keep records of Statutory Sick Pay paid that the employer wants to reclaim from HMRC
• keep the following records for 3 years after the date the employer receive the payment for its SSP rebate claim:
  • the dates the employee was off sick
  • which of those dates were qualifying days
  • the reason they said they were off work - if they had symptoms, someone they lived with had symptoms or they were shielding
  • the employee’s National Insurance number
• keep records of employees’ sickness absence. HMRC may need to see these records if there’s a dispute over payment of SSP
• print or save their state aid declaration (from the claim summary) and keep this until 31 December 2024